A Lighter Shade of Grey
by Shikata ga nai
Summary: *title change* GW/Dark Angel X-over. Heero and the others go to Seattle to bodyguard Relena at a conference and Relena is kidnapped by Max and the other transgenics. Please R/R. *Chapter 4 up!!*
1. Escaping the Cage

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or Dark Angel. If I owned Dark Angel, it would be coming back next season. I am poor and making no money off of this.

A/N: That's right. Gundam wing meets Dark Angel. There will be action, there will be romance, there will be Relena bashing (though maybe not obvious). It may become lemony-fresh. ^.~ I know the two exist in different times, but for this story they will exist in DA time (circa 2019 AD). I will only explain the plot of either show as the opportunity arises within the story. I will try answer questions about the complicated DA plot if you ask them (Gundam Wing is harder--I'm at episode 15), but I suggest you go and look for yourself if you care. I'll do my best to include the essentials. Please read and review and I will love you forever. Is anybody even going to read this? *shrugs* On with it.

~*~

Chapter One

Heero was sitting at the kitchen table sipping his coffee, staring with boredom at the headlines of the paper in front of him. He glanced up at Duo with much the same look on his face.

Duo sighed. "You are really not a morning person."

"Hn." Heero turned the page of his newspaper. "Did I hear the phone ring?"

Duo pulled out a chair and plunked himself in it. "Yes. Thanks for answering it. I was trying to change a lightbulb and got to it on the sixth ring, and I tripped over the rug on the way. But anyways."

Heero looked up at the 02 pilot. He wore his version of a questioning look on his inexpressive face, one eyebrow raised by millimetres.

Luckily Duo had known him long enough to recognize his expressions. _Quit babbling and get on with it,_ he thought. "I got a call from one of the vice minister's secretaries." Duo made a face. "Relena is going to America for some kind of conference and needs a bodyguard. Of course it has to be you."

Heero blinked. "Where in America?"

"Um…I think she said Seattle."

Heero sipped his coffee. "Isn't there some crap going on there with terrorists or something?"

"Yeah, that's why she wants you as a bodyguard. Actually, she mentioned the rest of us as flank security for her entourage." Duo scratched his ear. "Hey, it's a free trip out of this cage." He indicated the house around them.

"…And everybody else?" 

"Trowa grinned, Quatre said something about needing to do laundry for the trip and Wufei made an unrepeatable comment about Americans in general and Relena in specific."

Heero stood up, finishing the last dregs of his coffee. "Where's my suitcase?"

***

"Mr. Yuy, Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Winner, Mr. Barton and Mr. Chang." The big man standing in front of the boys greeted them in turn as if he were a teacher taking the attendance.

"Hello," Quatre beamed.

The man smiled patronizingly before he moved on quickly. "Yes, well, you boys have accepted the task of ensuring the personal security of Ms. Darlian for the duration of her stay in America. I am Mr. Smith and I've been asked to give you some background information on the Seattle area before you leave. Please sit down." He gestured at a line of chairs next to them. 

When they were settled in, he began. "As I'm sure you are aware, Seattle is in the state of Washington. Before America's economic failure," he paused, "Seattle was famous for its Space Needle and the Starbucks on every corner." He chuckled but stopped himself quickly when no one else laughed.

Smith cleared his throat self-consciously. "Ah, where was I? Oh yes, in the last few years, the city has been plagued by a small group of terrorist radicals, who claim to be transgenics (he said the word slowly, as if he was trying out speaking for the first time), released upon the destruction of a secret government facility called Manticore. Our sources in the country assure us that the Manticore facility was simply a hospital."

Trowa spoke up. "What's a trans-whatever?"

"The radicals who call themselves transgenics say they are the products of genetic tampering. They claim to have certain abilities and features different from the rest of us, and that they were designed to be soldiers for the US government."

"I see…" Trowa trailed off with a frown. Quatre sat next to him looking nervous.

"I assure you that it is all a lie." Smith said reassuringly. "These are normal people on a vendetta against authority."

He continued. "Vice Minister Darlian's presence had been requested at a conference in Seattle next week on the issue of world peace and crime prevention, sponsored by the Romefeller Foundation. She will attend seminars and give a speech over the duration of the gathering. Your job is to keep her safe from these terrorists and the inevitable other protestors and see that she has no problems during her stay."

"We're up to the challenge, sir." Heero stood up and shook Smith's hand before leaving the room.

Looking alternately nervous and confused, the other Gundam pilots followed him out the door.

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A/N: Okay, I'm done the boring background and stuff. Next chapter the action starts. I'll try to head off any possible questions about either cast as the story progresses and I add new characters. Please read, review and petition to bring back Dark Angel for next season! (Bah, who'm I kidding, it's done for. I'll survive.) ^.~ Jaa ne.


	2. Welcome to Seattle...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or Dark Angel.

A/N: Ahhhhh! Somebody actually read it and reviewed! *Falls to the ground in a dead faint* Thank you Ali, this is now dedicated to you. I could even add you in as an X-5. ^.~

~*~

Chapter Two

Duo yawned. "Are we there yet?"

Heero looked out the tiny window next to him. He felt the rumblings of the wheels emerging from their housings as the plane prepared to land. "Pretty much."

Soon the plane taxied to a stop and Relena's entourage filed off of the aircraft. Immediately the gundam pilots formed a protective phalanx around her as they moved through the airport. They only saw airport staff until they got to the main lobby. Everybody was herded into limousines and jeeps and they pulled away into traffic.

Heero and Trowa stayed in the back of Relena's limo with her. Trowa looked out of the window. "Oh my God, was this World War 3?"

Heero followed his gaze. The buildings were grungy and covered with graffiti while homeless people slept against the walls in the dim evening light. Police roamed the streets armed with semi-automatic rifles and wearing what would normally be considered riot gear.

About ten minutes later, the line of cars was stopped. Heero peered out the windows, trying to see past the lineup. "What's going on?" He asked the driver finally.

The man looked back at him like he was stupid. "We're heading into a different sector," he replied slowly and clearly. "We have to go through the checkpoint."

Soon enough they got to a high fence crowned with coils of barbed wire. The driver gave the sector police his papers and they looked at everyone in the car before letting them through. 

"Welcome to Sector 4," the driver said with a sigh as they drove beyond the fence. "This is where the conference is being held, and where Ms. Peacecraft will be staying."

Heero and Trowa looked around. It resembled the last sector, except the buildings were taller and there were more police. "What's that tower over there?" Trowa pointed at a decrepit tower looming in the distance, graffiti visible even from here.

"That's the Space Needle." The occupants of the car were silent again until they reached the Hyatt where Relena was staying.

***

The gundam pilots could not believe the poverty that surrounded them. Everywhere they went, women with tiny babies and toothless old winos assaulted them for a handout. They passed lineups for food, water, and gasoline, all heavily guarded by the sector police. 

Tiny Quatre shivered in his clean, pressed khakis and white shirt. "What an ironic place to hold a peace conference." He looked ill as he regarded the street. "Barbed wire is not an accessory."

The boys all stayed close to Relena as she moved between hotel and car. The big hotel where the conference was being held was surrounded by picketers waving signs saying things like, "The sector police are killing peace," "Romefeller rot in hell," and other choice phrases. More than once Wufei or Trowa would have to part the crowd so they could find the door. 

Duo muttered to Heero, "I wish we could leave this hellhole _now_." Heero nodded silently.

*

On the morning of the second full day of meetings, the pilots were trying to push through the crowd to get Relena in the door and not having much success. Duo was having trouble with one man who was trying to wrestle his gun away from him. _I don't want to hurt him, but I wonder what his mouth would look like if he were missing a few teeth…_

Suddenly the crowd parted, running away with their signs in tow. Screams could be heard as the people scattered. Duo stood there for a moment in disbelief. _What happ--_ His thought was cut off by the loud, insistent revving of an engine. Finally he saw the motorcycle speeding towards them, its rider hoisting a flag that flapped loudly in his wake. The 02 pilot got a glimpse of red, white and black on the banner as it flashed by him.

The bike carried on for a few more feet, then pulled an abrupt U-turn and shot by again. Duo heard another yelp, more familiar this time, and quickly realized that Relena was no longer standing next to Heero, where she'd been latched onto his arm a moment ago. He looked up to see what he expected: there were now two forms on the rapidly retreating bike instead of one. 

Relena's voice drifted towards him. "Heeeeeerooooooo…"

The pilots started shooting at the escaping kidnapper. Duo jumped into a nearby jeep with Heero and pursued the bike. They kept up for several blocks before they lost the rider in a narrow alley. Heero banged his head angrily on the dashboard in front of him. "Shit."

***

"In other news, the Japanese Vice Minister Relena Peacecraft was kidnapped today from in front of the hotel where the Romefeller Peace Conference is being held. Ms. Peacecraft's bodyguards pursued but lost the kidnapper, who was seen holding the insignia of the rogue transgenic militia and was believed to be a transgenic themselves. Here is a video clip taken at the scene."

The clip showed the bike taking off, with a clear shot of the rider's flag: a white dove flying on a white, red and black background. The bottom showed what looked like a UPC code on the black stripe. Relena was held captive between the rider and the handlebars.

Wufei stood up suddenly. "That rider has long hair! Was that a _woman _that made fools out of us?!"

__

Here we go, Duo thought wearily.

Smith turned off the TV and stood up, rubbing his temples and looking like he wanted nothing more than a drink and some sleep. "I cannot believe this is happening." He looked up at the five boys sitting in front of him and sighed heavily. "The transgenics are holding Ms. Peacecraft for ransom in their stronghold in Sector 5. The government, the Romefeller Foundation, and our lot are trying to lure them out and conduct the talks peacefully. So far it's not working."

Heero stood up, his eyes steely. "We'll go in and get her out."

Smith looked at him, and so did the other pilots. A smile crept across Smith's face, at least. "I was hoping one of you would suggest that before I had to. It will be dangerous; they have a huge cache of weapons and no shortage of soldiers."

Duo stared at Heero disbelievingly. He didn't want to risk his neck to save Relena, but the expression on his comrade's face clearly said he was going in. Duo sighed and rose from his seat. "We'll show those transgenic freaks not to piss off a gundam pilot." He hoped that he looked more determined than he felt.

Soon the other three joined him and they were ushered off for another prep meeting. 

"Now, this is highly blacklist. If word gets out that we're doing this, the transgenics will probably kill her and then there may be a war." Smith looked solemn but more awake than he had been. "Their base is called Terminal City. It's an old toxic spill site, fenced off, and it's a felony to approach it. Sources say they gather in an abandoned parking garage, and that will be where they're holding her. We want an in-and-out job, very quiet, preferably no casualties. You will have no help, and if you fail this mission, you're on your own. We will deny all knowledge of your actions."

Smith unrolled a large paper in his hand. It was an old floorplan of the abandoned building in question. "You will have three days to finish this mission, and the rendezvous point is at midnight each of those nights at King Street and 51st Avenue, in Sector 4." He looked at them seriously, something flashing dangerously deep within his hazel eyes. "If you don't have Ms. Peacecraft by then, don't come."

And that was it. Every minute ticking by was another lost, so they set off right away, each with false credentials to get them past the sector checkpoints safely, and each armed to the teeth, just in case. A cool, refreshing breeze teased their faces as the five soldiers set off into the embrace of the night.

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A/N: Ehehe. Next chapter they meet the transgenics. And Relena. Don't worry, it _will_ pick up and start to get interesting soon. ^^;


	3. Breaching Terminal City

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or Dark Angel.

A/N: Thanks to Angel Lily, Za Kaze no Nisou, and Spazoid for reviewing. ^^ In this chapter we meet Max and the transgenics…

Language-ness: Onna is Japanese for woman. It's one of Wufei's favourite insults.

~*~

Chapter Three

Shortly after midnight, the g-boys found themselves hiding behind an abandoned car in Sector 5, staring at a high chain-link fence ten yards away in front of them. They had just managed to slip unnoticed past a horde of sector police and a rowdy group of drunks pouring liquor on a large, burning 'X' in front of the same fence.

Heero took his gaze off of the Terminal City compound to check his gun. "Okay, men, this is the plan: we split up into pairs, I'll go alone, and get over the fence. Once we're inside, head for the roof of the target building. We'll go in through the top and do a little espionage before we make our move. It's every man for himself until we get to the roof. Any questions? Let's move…"

*

The pilots separated and headed to different regions of the fence, looking to gain entry.

Trowa looked up. "It looks about twelve feet tall. You're small, Quatre, I bet I could give you a boost."

Quatre squinted at the top. "But there's barbed wire."

Trowa knelt down and cupped his hands together. "So tuck in your head on the way over. And don't look down."

"But how will you get past it?"

Trowa's eyes sparkled. "I'll manage."

Quatre was launched over the fence with a grunt, clearing the coils at the top with an inch or two to spare. He rolled when he hit the ground to absorb the noise. A few moments later Trowa landed lightly on his feet next to him.

Quatre looked up at his friend in shock. "How did you do that?"

Trowa grinned. "A running start and a bit of a launch." He pointed at a board leaned up against an oil drum just outside the perimeter. The smile vanished as quickly as it had come and he drew out his gun. "Let's go."

*

Duo frowned at his enemy. Its chain links winked back at him mockingly in the dim light from the burning 'X.' 

Wufei sighed. "Let's just climb the damn thing."

"What if it's electrified?"

In response the Chinese boy picked up a chunk of wood and heaved it at the fence. It clanged against the metal and fell to the ground with a thud, completely unharmed.

"All right, so we'll climb it…" Duo muttered as he approached the barrier. He heaved himself up, his braid swinging, and soon was at the top. Immediately he began to curse. "There's barbed wire up here!" 

After an eternity of negotiation and awkward bending, he eased himself over the sharp coils and slowly made his way down the other side. Three feet from the bottom, he was jarred to a sudden stop and pain shot through his head. He looked up and cursed more fluently. _My braid's caught in the barbs…_ Finally he was freed and he collapsed on the ground, vowing never to go near any fence again.

A shadow loomed over him as he examined the damage to his hair. "Hey, you're in my light…" He looked up to see Wufei standing there, completely unharmed. 

"I didn't even see you go over the fence," Duo said with a little amazement.

"There was a hole a few yards away. I crawled through."

Duo jerked his head to see the hole, standing three yards away from where he'd gone over. He could have sworn it was laughing at him. A long line of thoughts involving Wufei, Wufei's mother, barnyard animals, and melting the damned fence down into sharp objects good for stabbing reeled through his mind. He shook his head to clear it and got up with a sigh. "Where's this building we have to climb?"

***

They got to the top of the building without too much trouble. When they got there, Heero was crouched behind a large metal box, examining the floorplan via a red-tinted flashlight. 

"'Bout time you got here," he muttered when all were assembled.

Duo bristled. "Excuse me, Mr. I'm-a-perfect-soldier. My hair got caught!" 

Heero looked up at Duo with his fierce eyes. "You should cut it off anyway. It's useless and dangerous."

Trowa cut off Duo's angry defense with a hand gesture. "How do we get in?"

"Through the air ducts." Heero pointed at a large round pipe curving out of the roof.

The pilots crawled into the vent one by one, dropping silently to the pipe below. They toiled slowly through the black ducts on hands and knees, straining to be silent.

Finally Duo saw a tiny rectangle of dim light ahead. After checking the room below, Heero popped the cover off the opening and they scrambled down into a small boiler room. The darkness was less absolute here than in the ducts. Duo could make out the outlines of his comrades' faces. 

Heero checked the blueprint again silently. "We'll split up again, into two groups," he whispered softly. Trowa and Wufei take the left corridor and Duo, Quatre and I will take the right." He showed them the route. "Be absolutely silent!"

They split off and Duo crept down the corridor behind Heero with Quatre in tow. Nothing stood in their way until they were close to the parking level where Relena was supposed to be. Quatre was behind Duo, peering around in the near-darkness, when he suddenly tugged on Duo's sleeve.

Duo stopped Heero and looked at Quatre questioningly. The young man pointed wordlessly down the hall in front of them. A small figure was standing against the wall, unmoving. _Maybe he's asleep,_ Duo thought. 

He was proved wrong when the child--for it was too small to be otherwise--ran from the wall towards them. Running wasn't even the word for it. The kid was a blur to Duo's eyes. The God of Death drew his gun, hoping to get a lock on his target. _Where is he? I can't even see him! _All he could hear was strange clicking noises, and then Heero was locked in hand-to-hand combat with their assailant.

*

Quatre could now see the guard clearly. He was about five feet tall and completely bald. His eyes shone blackly as he fought with Heero, his limbs nearly a blur like his whole body had been a minute ago. Quatre could see Heero was going to lose this fight, and decided to help out. He crept up behind the smaller boy and brought the butt of his gun down swiftly against his head. A loud crack could be heard and the guard fell to the floor, stunned but apparently not unconscious.

The pilots took this opportunity to flee down the hall. Heero looked bothered that he had needed Quatre's help to defeat a soldier half his size, but ran just the same. There were no more guards and they got to their destination in a few minutes.

"So much for the element of surprise," Duo muttered as they climbed back up into the ceiling.

The three boys edged through a maze of pipes, trying not to step on ceiling tiles below. Heero put his finger to his lips and carefully pried up the corner of a tile. After peering through, he replaced it and pulled one up a few feet away. His messy brown hair was lost from view as he dropped trough the hole. Quatre followed after, landing on a rusty metal beam next to him. Duo came last, replacing the tile behind him. 

Below them the huge warehouse room was teeming with bodies. Normal humans were talking and socializing with creatures beyond Quatre's imaginings. He saw a woman that looked like a cat, sleeping peacefully on a blanket in a corner; a man with pure white skin relaxing in front of an open fridge with an ice pack on his forehead. In the centre of the room a huge man with scales was talking to a dog-man around a cigar. There must have been a hundred people and creatures there, at least.

Quatre was so fascinated by what he saw that when Heero touched his arm he jumped and nearly fell off the beam. He steadied himself and followed Heero's pointing finger. Relena was tied up to a chair in a corner, surrounded by three of the creatures and one human woman, her chocolate skin shining with perspiration. Next Heero pointed discreetly at a beam across the cavernous room, where Trowa and Wufei crouched, looking around.

"Now what?" Quatre whispered. "How do we get Miss Relena?" 

"They're all awake now. They have to go to sleep sometime. We'll try to save her then." Heero communicated the same message across the distance to the other two with sign language. 

Quatre looked at Duo to see if he'd heard. The 02 pilot's eyes were glazed over as he stared at something or someone below them. "Duo. Duo!" Quatre whispered sharply, finally poking Duo to get his attention.

"Huh? Wha-?"

Quatre sighed patiently. "We wait 'til they go to sleep and then try to get Miss Relena."

"Oh…kay." Duo's eyes went back to searching the floor. Evidently he had lost whoever he was looking at. 

Quatre sighed and settled in to wait.

*

Duo looked all around the floor below him, searching every face before moving on to the next. Where had she gone? He had just been staring at the most stunningly beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and then Quatre distracted him and he lost her. She had just been talking to that black girl guarding Relena, and now she had vanished.

He looked up. Oh, there she was, crawling across the rafters towards Trowa and Wufei. 

Wait a minute…

He went white as a sheet and started to shake Heero wordlessly, pointing frantically towards the other two boys and their silent stalker. Heero swore softly and whipped out his gun, taking aim carefully. The silenced bullet pierced the wood of the opposite beam right between two of her black-gloved fingers. The woman looked up sharply, but more importantly, so did Wufei and Trowa. 

The two boys stood up and retreated, intending to climb back into the ceiling. Duo watched in silent horror as Trowa backed into a tall, well-built man standing on the beam behind him. 

*

Wufei glared daggers at the tall, dark haired woman in front of him. Her fists were out defensively in front of her, a pitiful gesture. He could take any _woman_ who dared approach him. The glare in her eyes matched his.

"Bring it on, _onna_," he spat, lowering himself to an almost-crouch. He was unarmed and almost wished Yuy would shoot her. Almost. He still looked forward to humiliating her more. 

After a centuries-long staredown, she made the first move, rushing at him and aiming with a black-clad leg for his head. He blocked it easily and punched her. Her head reeled back slightly from the impact and she let loose with a flurry of punches that could have easily cracked the two-by-fours around him. He dodged every one, though barely. 

His eyebrows raised slightly. _She's good, _he thought. _For an onna._ He attacked again, but she dodged this one and pulled his arm over her shoulder, flipping him forcefully into the beam under her. All the air rushed out of his lungs and he lay there, winded and sore. He squeezed his eyes shut with the pain and when he opened them her face swam into view.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Her voice gnawed at him. He wanted to rip her insolent face off. 

"What's it to you, bitch?"

She glared at him again and looked about to push him off the beam. Instead she turned around. "Alec, have you got the other one?"

"Yeah, Maxie. He's squirmy though." A deep male voice echoed back.

"Let's go. We'll put them down with the vice minister." She hoisted Wufei up and dragged him down a ladder somebody had set up. When they got to the floor he was swept away by a scaly creature smoking a cigar.

__

At least they left Yuy, Maxwell and Winner, Wufei thought as he was secured to a chair under heavy guard. He looked discreetly up to the roof and was disappointed to see the woman, her companion and a dog-man surrounding them. Quatre fell off the beam and was caught by a human-looking boy. _God damn them. Now what will we do?_

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A/N: Not the best way to meet new people. How will the g-boys rescue Relena, or just get out of this mess? I apologize, but school, life and my dad's addiction to online hearts and euchre may keep me from updating this story for a while. I'll do my best. Ja.


	4. Fraternizing With the Enemy

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gundam wing or Dark Angel.

A/N: Thanks to Ali for reviewing again! More talking this chapter, gomen. I have to get through this stuff. Bah. Oh yeah, and I'm a Max/Alec fan, so there won't be too much Max/Logan except for the uncomfortable bits. Eventually it will become Max/Gundam Pilot--but I won't tell which one 'til it happens. I also messed with the ages. The pilots are 18 and Max and Alec are 21, making the year 2021. There are long and complicated DA storylines involved in this chapter that I won't go into for fear of boring everybody to death. If it confuses you, ask a DA fan or find a site. Thanks and please review!

~*~

Chapter Four

"Hey. Hey, wake up."

"Muh--?" Heero felt himself being shaken. His eyelids fluttered and he snapped awake, instantly alert. His eyes shifted to the gloom and he stared at the black-gloved hand resting on his shoulder. His gaze never wavered as he followed the arm upwards until his eyes met hers. Her dark face wore a wary frown as she contemplated her prisoner.

"You're the leader," she said in a quiet voice.

"Excuse me?"

She grinned. Heero was reminded of a cat stalking its prey. "You're the leader. You organized this mission." She double-tucked her long ebony hair behind her ears as she crouched in front of him. Her eyes sparkled in the darkness. "You're a pretty good shot."

Heero recalled when he'd shot the beam between her fingers from across the room. He snarled. "I missed."

The woman was completely unfazed. She stood up and looked around, observing the people sleeping around them. Somebody was snoring softly. "I have questions and I need some privacy to ask them."

Heero regarded her silently from his position, bound tightly by a lot of rope to his chair. His eyes widened as she loomed closer, her hair hanging in his face as she picked up the chair and hoisted him over her head. In this way she carried him into a smaller, enclosed room and shut the door. A cot sat in one corner and a motorcycle helmet hung on a hook by the door.

Once he was settled in the middle of the floor, she sat on the cot and regarded him silently. Heero felt uncomfortable being stared at by her penetrating brown eyes. "You had questions?" he snapped.

She leaned forward. "Yeah, I do. But being the good soldier you obviously are, I doubt you'll answer them." 

Heero said nothing, just watched her coldly.

"So I have a proposition. For every question of mine you answer, you can ask me one. Fair?" She took his silence as a yes. "What is your name, soldier?"

A pause. "You can call me Heero Yuy." His steel blue eyes were like frostbite. "And your name?"

Now it was her turn to pause. "It used to be X-5452, if you can call that a name. But now you can call me Max. How many of you were sent on this mission?"

"Five. What is this group of yours?"

Max smiled twistedly. "I'm sure you've seen it on the news, Heero. We are a group of transgenics--genetically modified humans--who escaped from a secret government facility, and we want the right to buy our daily bread without being shot."

"Manticore…" Heero remembered the name from the newscast and from Smith's useless briefing. "Why were you created?"

"Uh, uh, uh," she smirked, "I get to ask you a question first. What organization are you from? Did Romefeller send you?"

Heero smirked icily back at her. "That's two questions. I'll only answer the first one." He was pleased to see her fume at her mistake. He could play this game as well as she could. "We are part of the United Earth Sphere, an organization dedicated to pacifism. Why were you created?" he repeated.

Max shrugged. "We were supposed to be the perfect soldiers for the US government. The Manticore project was started fifteen years before the Pulse destroyed America. (A/N: In DA, the Pulse was a nuclear shock that fried every microchip in the world in 2009, but I've trimmed it to the US for this story.) I was born in 2000." She played with her glove absently. "Did Romefeller send you?"

Heero hesitated. He didn't like to give away so much information, but he was gaining valuable information about his enemy. This girl was not afraid to tell all. She seemed to have no secrets. "Romefeller and the vice ministry made the joint decision to send us." Now came his reward for that release. "Why did you kidnap Ms. Peacecraft?"

Max stood up and began to pace. "Since the destruction of Manticore, I've been trying to find out more about where I--where we all--came from. About six months ago I found out from one of my sources that the Romefeller Foundation was a supporter and co-founder of the Manticore program. When we found out about the conference, we decided to kidnap a dignitary close to Romefeller and hold her for ransom or try to get information out of her." She sighed. "So far it looks like the girl knows nothing, but the bargaining could keep us fed for a while." She looked at Heero. "And now we have you boys."

Of course it was her who had kidnapped Relena. The motorcycle was hers, judging by the helmet in her room. The hair was the same. Heero had also noticed that she was one of the few transgenics who could pass for normal, albeit a very good-looking normal. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Heero saw Max's whole body tense up, ready to attack whoever came in the door if need be. He found himself admiring her toughness. _Nothing like Relena,_ he thought.

*

"Hey Maxie." 

Max relaxed and smiled as the man walked into the room. "Hey Alec. Why are you still up?"

"I had the watch tonight. What are you doing?"

"Just talking with Heero here."

Alec fixed his attention on the boy in the chair. "Heero, huh? Looks friendly." He acknowledged the evil look that the 01 pilot was giving them both. He remembered fighting with him on the beam earlier that day. _My jaw still aches from that punch he gave me._ _He looks dangerous._

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "My advice, Max: Don't give this kid anything resembling a sharp object. Ever."

*

After a quick kiss goodnight, Alec had offered to take Heero back to his spot so she could get some sleep. Max had accepted gratefully, but the trouble now was that she _couldn't_ sleep. As she lay stretched out on her cot, every time she shut her eyes she saw a pair of ice blue ones staring back at her from under his messy brown hair. The truth was that the boy who called himself Heero intrigued her. 

__

There's a lot of his past that probably resembles mine, she thought idly, a shiver passing through her body as she remembered her twelve years at Manticore. Memories of hard cots, brainwashing, endless training and the few missions she'd been on were not the happy ones that constituted most childhoods. Her escape with her bunkmates when she was twelve was the best thing that ever happened to her, despite the hardships. A little over a year ago she'd been caught again and sent back, enduring more of the same torture before she'd burned it down and released everybody.

__

Heero's been through a lot of shit too. He looks completely brainwashed, the type who would take a bullet for the mission even with three kids at home. Nothing scares him…

Max finally fell asleep, but her dreams were restless and disturbed. She kept seeing battle scenes, giant metal robots fighting and killing, while those piercing blue eyes stared at her, boring into her soul.

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A/N: *sweatdrop* I really don't like this chapter. I have something closely resembling writer's block right now, as far as this story is concerned. I'll put plenty of action and lemon-scented thoughts in the next one to try and make up for it. *hides head in shame* In the meantime, please review (ideas would kick some ass, although there is a sketchy plot in my head) and go read The God of Death, my new short story. Ja.


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